NEW YORK -- Clinique and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai today announced a philanthropic partnership to establish the Mount Sinai-Clinique Healthy Skin Dermatology Center. The Center will develop forward-thinking research in dermatology, exploring the biological underpinnings of how skin ages, skin allergies and inflammatory or eczematous skin conditions, including eczema (or atopic dermatitis) and contact dermatitis. Rooted in a shared mission to conduct dermatological research that improves patients’ lives, the partnership will focus on applicable scientific discovery and leading-edge innovation to modernize allergy science in order to identify innovative solutions for these skin conditions.

Research conducted under the Mount Sinai-Clinique Healthy Skin Dermatology Center aims to uncover scientific findings to accelerate the creation of new topical and systemic treatments that help alleviate allergic skin conditions. The priority is to bridge basic science with practical application in the clinic to improve people’s lives through healthy skin. By investigating healthy skin, along with the skin of those with atopic dermatitis and other allergic skin disorders, the researchers may learn how to significantly slow the visible signs of aging in all people as well as in patients with eczema, who show signs of premature or accelerated aging. Insights from this research aim to spur advances in the field of dermatology and skin health. Additionally, they will inform and inspire Clinique in future product innovation to offer further solutions for people with allergic or sensitive skin.

“As a brand that has offered dermatologist guided solutions and allergy tested solutions since its inception, Clinique is proud to partner with the renowned institution of Icahn Mount Sinai and its team of physician-scientists, led by a world-renowned expert in allergic and inflammatory skin diseases, Dr. Emma Guttman. We are inspired by the team’s dedication to the research and future discoveries of allergic skin and its life impact, including aging. We are energized by our mutual commitment and steadfast belief that great skin can be created and maintained for all. I am confident that this first-of-its-kind partnership will enable groundbreaking research by leading physician-scientists dedicated to advancing allergy science,” Michelle Freyre, President, Global Brands, Clinique.

Dr. Emma Guttman, MD, PhD, Waldman Professor and System Chair, Department of Dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine, a trailblazer in dermatologic science, has dedicated her career to bridging science with practice intended to improve patients’ lives. Her work has led to novel therapeutic targets for patients suffering from inflammatory skin conditions. Drawing inspiration from her personal and family history of eczema and other allergic conditions, Dr. Guttman has made it her mission to alleviate sensitive skin.

“Years of chronic inflamed skin plays a role in premature aging. Extensive research has helped us understand the molecular map of skin conditions associated with allergy such as eczema and contact dermatitis, and we’re now at a pivotal point in addressing these conditions and more. With Clinique’s support, we will continue to actively explore targeted approaches to reversing eczematous and allergic skin conditions with the goal of creating and sustaining healthy skin. In turn, we want to use this understanding to address and prevent the process of age-related inflammation or ‘inflammaging’ in the first place,” says Dr. Guttman, who also directs the Center of Excellence in Eczema at Mount Sinai and the Laboratory of Inflammatory Skin Diseases at Icahn Mount Sinai.

The laboratory of Inflammatory Skin Diseases at Icahn Mount Sinai has a major focus on atopic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, alopecia areata, and other inflammatory skin diseases. It has made paradigm-shifting discoveries on the immunologic basis of atopic dermatitis, opening the door to new therapeutics. Dr. Guttman’s lab developed the only comprehensive molecular maps of atopic dermatitis, defining skin differentiation and immune-circuits characterizing this disease across phenotypes and ages. This work on atopic dermatitis/eczema has contributed directly to many of the recently developed treatments for this disease, earning Dr. Guttman and her lab a unique place as being a top leader in dermatology and immunology worldwide.

Clinique has a long-standing history of partnering with dermatologists, including its Founding Dermatologist, Norman Orentreich, MD, and incorporating patients’ insights in its innovation since 1968. His children, Catherine Orentreich, MD, and David Orentreich, MD, the brand’s Guiding Dermatologists, continue their father’s legacy for Clinique. Dr. David Orentreich is Assistant Clinical Professor of Dermatology at Icahn Mount Sinai, and he and Dr. Catherine Orentreich are members of the Mount Sinai Dermatology Advisory Board.

In this meaningful mission, Clinique has made a philanthropic commitment of $5 million over seven years for the advancement and evolution of allergy science through the partnership and founding of the Mount Sinai-Clinique Healthy Skin Dermatology Center. The funds will be used to recruit the best and brightest physicians and scientists, and provide resources for the most advanced equipment, clinical and laboratory space, and key support staff. The studies conducted by the Mount Sinai-Clinique Healthy Skin Dermatology Center will include all ages, genders, races and ethnicities, and will also investigate the effects of factors such as diet, exercise, and stress on the skin of healthy people. Mount Sinai predicts that with Clinique’s support, critical breakthroughs will be fast-tracked, from the earliest stages of the multiyear partnership.